Monte Cristi

Monte Cristi

Monte Cristi

Monte Cristi

Monte Cristi

Monte Cristi

Monte Cristi

San Fernando de Monte Cristi is the capital of Monte Cristi Province, Dominican Republic. It is located in the northwest region of the country in the coastal lowlands near the border with Haiti.

History

Monte Cristi was founded by Nicolas de Ovando in 1506 and populated in 1533 by Juan de Bolaños and 63 families from the Canary Islands. These migrated to various parts of the country afterwards leaving the town behind. It was later repopulated and became a very wealthy port in the mid-to-late 16th century.

In 1606, one hundred years after its founding, it was destroyed as retribution for doing business with pirates. In 1756 the city was rebuilt and again became a prosperous trading center, until the early 20th century.

In 1895, was the site of the signing of el Manifiesto de Montecristi by Máximo Gómez and José Martí, at Máximo Gómez home located on Mella St. They sailed from "La Granja" beach, also in Montecristi, to Cuba to fight for its independence.

Climate

Monte Cristi has a tropical savanna climate with a pronounced dry season on summer, and an wet season on winter. It has an average temperature of 26.5 °C and an average annual rainfall of 700 mm. The average evaporation is 1800 mm. Precipitation is highest in the eastern part of the park where the winds collide with the Northern Range and discharge their waters. The same applies to the area of Manzanillo. The same winds hit the Central Cordillera and its prolongation Massif du Nord in Haiti. The effect is felt mainly in the foothills near Loma de Cabrera and Dajabón, but also, to a lesser extent, in Manzanillo.

Hurricanes and tropical storms have little effect on the area of Monte Cristi, however, can cause increased its rains and flooding in the Rio Yaque del Norte also affecting its mouth. The river brings sediment also affect reefs in the area. During the winter some cold fronts come from North America, with low temperatures and strong northerly winds. It is also common phenomenon swell: cold currents coming down from the Arctic seabed and emerge when they hit the island shelf.

Monte Cristi National Park

Monte Cristi National Park (Parque National Monte Cristi) is a national park on the Caribbean Island of Hispaniola that extends from the borders of Haiti to Punta Rucia in the Dominican Republic and covers an area of 550 km². Its contains coastal lagoons, beaches, mangrove swamps, a 237 m (777 ft) limestone mesa from which can be seen off shore keys and forested slopes of the mesa's northern side.

The area is very dry, receiving just over two inches of rain per year. The huge mesa provides a habitat for an indigenous plant species called sabia montecristini as well as several reptile species. There are no marked paths in the park.

Monte Cristi Pipe Wreck

Monte Cristi Pipe Wreck is a submerged archaeological site located on the north coast of Hispaniola in the Dominican Republic near the border of Haiti, part of the Greater Antilles in the Caribbean. The site is one of the hundreds of historic shipwrecks that lie on the ocean floor between Monte Cristi and Puerto Plata.

Archaeological evidence indicates that the shipwreck is one of a merchant trader probably sinking in the second half of the 17th century. Hispanola, together with Jamaica, was originally settled by adventurous men seeking the life of a buccaneer and these islands thrived through piracy rather than through growing sugar until the 18th century. The historical and geological information together indicates that the ship was likely to have been a buccaneer vessel headed to the Americas most likely for the Upper Hudson River Valley.

Location

This wreck, known as the “Pipe Wreck” because of the large number of clay smoking pipes it carried as cargo, the type of long pipe the indigenous inhabitants used to smoked tobacco that was a shaped cane and called tobago.[5] It lies at a depth of 4.4 m at the northern side of Monte Cristi Bay in a bed of sea grass. Five large masses are visible, covered by a layer of calcium carbonate. Three of the objects seem to be combinations of iron and copper-alloy and two appear to be solid slabs of iron. The calcium carbonate furnish ample material for the reef ecosystem that covers the existing hull.

Artifacts

The findings included a large number of clay tobacco smoking pipes, as well as ceramics, trade goods, and luxury imports. Most of the ceramic found were mottled-brown salt-glazed fragments known Rhenish stoneware from Germany and popular during the 16th and 17th centuries.

WHEN TO GO

Between December and May, temperatures in Puerto Plata tend to hover between 28C and 31C. June to November is hurricane season, so the Dominican Republic is often hit by tropical storms – but the hotels are dab hands at dealing with them. June has the highest rainfall, clocking up 12 wet days.